President Obama Insults the Intelligence of America’s Youth By Dictating Marijuana Legalization Should Be Their Bottom Priority

Rather than listening to his young constituents, President Obama disregards their highest priority—ending the failed pot prohibition policy of the United States—and condescendingly substitutes his own narrow-minded vision for the future.

To prepare for his much anticipated interview with President
Obama, VICE’s Shane Smith solicited questions online in advance from readers. When
he interviewed the president last week, Smith saved the most popular subject
for the end: “For young people, I’m
sorry, but if you legalized marijuana, it would be the biggest part of your
legacy.”

Barack Obama, who admittedly smoked weed in his youth, had
the audacity to declare, “First of all, it shouldn’t be young people’s biggest
priority.”

Interviewer Smith attempted to explain, “It was our most
popular…”

“I understand, because sometimes, on White House petitions, we get the same,”
said Obama.

President Obama has apparently decided that instead of
listening to his young constituents who will inherit this county, he should
dictate the order of their priorities, as follows:

“Young people: I understand this is
important to you, but as you be thinking about climate change, the economy and
jobs, war and peace, maybe way at the bottom you should be thinking about
marijuana.”

Perhaps the young people of America DO have their priorities straight. The War
on Drugs has failed and wrought collateral damage on human rights. Moms, dads,
brothers, and sisters all around the country are incarcerated due to the
prohibition of the cannabis hemp plant. Our youth witness how entering the
criminal justice system for a marijuana offense has a debilitating effect on a
person’s job and career prospects. Students are also at risk of losing student
loan eligibility if they get caught with marijuana.

The youth of today recognize the hypocrisy of calling the United
States the “land of the free” while boasting highest incarceration rate of any
country in the world. By privatizing prisons since the 1980’s, America allowed
the for-profit prison industry to flourish, leading to state sanctioned mass
incarceration (prisoner lockup quotas are actually written right into contracts
with prison companies).

When it comes to America’s wrong-headed war on weed, as Jack Herer observed, the emperor wears no clothes!

When it comes to America’s wrong-headed war on weed, as Jack
Herer observed, the emperor wears no clothes! The youth of America know that
cannabis is a medicinal plant that never should have been classified as a
Schedule I drug having “no accepted medical use.” An entire generation of
Americans has now seen online patient testimonials of cannabis curing cancer.
Cannabis is used medicinally to alleviate neurological disorders, pain, muscle
spasticity, and digestive symptoms including nausea and vomiting, among
numerous other benefits to overall health and well-being.

Aware Americans are awaiting the moment when cannabis hemp is legalized so
the beneficial properties of the plant can be studied even further.

President
Obama patronizingly suggested in his interview, “At a certain point, if enough
states end up decriminalizing, then Congress may then reschedule marijuana.”

Medical marijuana legislation has passed in 23 of 50 states—how
many more are needed to indicate the will of the people towards ending the
country’s failed pot prohibition policy? Are we to believe that the same
Congress that is currently willing to destroy our county over partisan battles
will ever unite to lead us to a common-sense drug policy?

Populist, democratic principles were on display when VICE
magazine asked the public at large to submit questions for their upcoming interview
with the commander-in-chief. President Obama, however, patronizingly issued a
papal decree of ordered priorities in response.

A young scholar could write a term paper placing each of the
president’s prescribed priorities in the context of pot prohibition. First,
President Obama listed climate change, which is caused by our addiction to
petrochemicals, growing exponentially in the last century while industrial use
of hemp has been banned. Cannabis hemp is a renewable resource excellent as a
fiber, fuel, paper, plastic, and more. Hemp has been a staple of economies
around the world for thousands of years; ending its prohibition would allow us
to live more in harmony with nature.

A young scholar could write a term paper placing each of the president’s prescribed priorities in the context of pot prohibition.

The second item in
President Obama’s priority list was “economy and jobs.” Our economy is adversely
affected by the multi-billion dollar yearly cost of incarcerating millions of nonviolent marijuana offenders. By creating
local economies based on private prisons, we are incentivizing the enslavement
of our African-American, Latino, and economically disadvantaged populations. America has more people of color in prison than in college. It is time to end the
prison-industrial complex and stop enriching private prison companies at
taxpayer expense.

The next tier of the president’s agenda for youth priorities
is the rather open-ended term “war and peace.” The War on Drugs has failed
(drugs won) and the federal government should make peace with the people. Also,
America should stop dictating the drug policy of other nations around the
world, and while we’re discussing it, perhaps start fewer wars overall.

President Obama’s idea that “maybe way at the bottom you
should be thinking about marijuana” is awfully convenient for a man who never
would have been president had he been caught up in the criminal justice system
for smoking with the “Choom Gang” in his own youth. Fortunately, today’s youth
are much more enlightened. Those of us who are not incarcerated should act for the freedom of our brothers and sisters unjustly imprisoned for a plant.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.